Remarks by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly

4 May 2022

Excellencies,

Dear friends,

It is a pleasure to have you here.

I would like to thank each one one of you personally for making the effort to come in-person for this event. This speaks of your commitment to recovery and to promoting tourism.

I would also like to especially thank the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili and his team for immediately responding to my request for convening such an event.  

Dear Friends,

Indeed, this is a momentous occasion, on multiple counts.

Today is the first time the General Assembly has addressed sustainable tourism in such a focused manner and format.

And, today is also the first time that the Office of the President will have used the Delegate’s Dining Room to host Minister’s since before the pandemic began.

This is understandably an encouraging sign of the UN re-opening, as well as the return to what many diplomats and dignitaries consider to be an essential component of New York tourism: the UN cuisine. 

My friends,

All jokes aside, I thank each of you for your active engagement and participation in today’s High-level Debate on sustainable tourism.

Having already extolled upon the financial and environmental needs for a so-called ‘tourism reboot’, I would like to remind everyone here today about the very human aspects of tourism.

Because it is easy, amidst the numbers and the jobs, and the industries and sectors, to forget that the words travel and tourism are almost synonymous with the human experience.

It speaks to our desire to learn and grow. It conjures memories of childhood trips and family vacations; of years abroad; of honeymoons and celebrations; of holidays surrounded by loved ones.

To some, it speaks of solace and comfort, of adventure. Mountaintops and deep-sea dives are new frontiers to explore, offering both majestic landscapes – above and below water – and the chance to reconnect with nature and with oneself.

All of this, everything I have said, transcends the borders,  institutions, and systems that we have put up around us. These are feelings and experiences that unite us as a species; they tug at our heartstrings and inspire in us a need to connect.

Yes, we have to retool and revitalize tourism so that it is more sustainable… but not only for the jobs or economic opportunities.

But because we want to ensure that those experiences remain intact for the future, that we preserve that feeling of wonder for future generations.

I want my children and grandchildren to visit ancient ruins and modern masterpieces; I want them to see biodiversity in all its rich colors; and I want them to find comfort in both the crowded streets of our cities and in the solace of a quiet forest.

Let us make sure that our tourism sector is sustainable, that it continues to offer the beautiful, the exotic, and the incredible for all of us, and for generations to come.

I thank you.